


Taking Your Time

by jambiscuitbuds



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Friendship, Gen, POV Second Person, could be canon as of Chille Tid, most likely gonna become not-canon after stevenbomb 3.0, oh well, this was originally gonna be a multi-chapter fic but i gave up
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-06
Updated: 2015-07-06
Packaged: 2018-04-07 22:52:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,992
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4280967
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jambiscuitbuds/pseuds/jambiscuitbuds
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“Lapis, I can’t expect you to love my home already, you’ve only been here for, like, less than a year, but maybe… Maybe after some time, and some work, you could learn to.”<br/>“You really think I could?”<br/>His whole face lights up, and you swear his gem glows a little, too. “Yeah! And I’ll make a deal with you- if you spend one year with me and the Crystal Gems, and you still don’t love it, then you can leave and go wherever you please,” he uses his hands to gesture to the stars, which are beginning to twinkle in the evening sky, “and I can’t do anything to stop you. But if you do love it…” he looks up at you, and as he sticks out his hand for a handshake, you swear you’ve never seen anyone seem more dead-set on something in your life, “if you love it, then you have to stay, and be a Crystal Gem with me.”<br/>“You’ve got yourself a deal, Steven.”</p><p>Or, Lapis learning to accept her new home.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Taking Your Time

The first thing you see when you open your eyes is blue. 

Not the cold aquamarine that you once loved, but now can’t help but associate with the mucky sand, absence of the sun’s warmth, and the terrifying creatures lurking by the sea floor that swam in fear only from you. Not the cobalt of your own gemstone either, or the deep navy of your eyes, but just blue.

And… white? Is that a cloud?

You jolt up from your previous position and gasp for air, having been deprived from the crisp atmosphere for so long. You dig your slender, shaking fingers into the ground, not quite sure if the hot, smooth sand makes you feel more or less secure. You shouldn’t be here, you should be at the bottom of the ocean with Jasper, keeping her from causing even more damage. The tide creeps up against your feet and hands, wetting the sand they are buried under, causing you to flinch and pull your hands up from beneath the muck. You run your hands through your hair, not caring about the sand that has travelled from the ground to your dark locks, which are hot to the touch. How long have you been lying unconscious on the beach, anyway?

“Lapis?” a familiar voice whispers from besides you. You turn your head to face the side, locking eyes with an equally terrified and elated boy that you somehow managed to not notice until now.

“S… Steven?” At the sound of his name, his eyes light up. His small, chubby arms wrap around your middle and squeeze you much harder than you thought such a small boy could be capable of. “What are you-”

“It’s a hug,” he explains, loosening his grip on your side. “It’s what you do to someone you love, to show you love them, or to make them feel better.” You stare down at the Crystal Gem, not quite sure how to respond.

“Oh.” You wonder if you should hug him back. You decide against it at this particular moment. “Er, Steven, how did I.. get here?” His starry eyes stare up at you, and he furrows his thick eyebrows in concern.

“You mean, you don’t remember how you got here?” 

“Should I?” He meets your comment with a shrug, followed by him letting go of you to stand in the tide, where he kicks his feet around for a minute.

“I guess you must have unfused somehow, cause I just came down here this morning, and I saw you and Jasper’s gems lying on the sand. You guys probably got attacked by a shark or something while you were swimming out. Your gem had a bite mark on it, so I used my healing spit to fix it. You started to reform, but you were passed out for a while, and you didn’t wake up until just now.” You take a moment to absorb this new information, then quickly stand up as you make a realization, but you loose your balance and stumble a bit as your legs wobble. It’s been nearly a year since you’ve stood on land, which, compared to the lifespan of most gems, should have been nothing, and yet it felt like an eternity.

“Where,” you take a deep breath and grab onto Steven’s shoulders, staring into his eyes, fear filled in your own, “is Jasper?”

Steven simply stares back at you for a moment, expressionless, before a wide grin spreads across his face. “Oh! You don’t have to worry. Pearl had me bubble her so she couldn’t hurt anybody anymore!” Now, it’s your turn to give an expressionless gaze.

“I- Bu- Oh.” You stare into the sun, which looks as if it’s sitting on the horizon of the ocean, casting a golden, metallic glow over the gentle waves. Just a day ago, you were somewhere down there, losing your identity, hands chained at your own will. Now, warm sand between your blue toes, the whole experience feels like nothing but a terrible nightmare. You sink to your knees, not moving your eyes from the burning star, millions of miles away, and bury your hands deep below the hot layer on top.

Logically, you should be protesting Jasper’s imprisonment. After being trapped in a mirror for millennia, you should find it unethical and demand that the Crystal Gems free her. Yet for some reason, you don’t. You feel cruel for simply allowing this to happen, imagining if your roles were reversed, but you know deep down she deserves it. You deserved it too, after all.

“Hey,” Steven whispers gently as he situates himself beside you. “You ok?” You tear your eyes away from the sun, and you see spots dancing around his face. You pull your hands out of the cold sand, hidden from the sun, and dust them off on your skirt.

“I’m not sure. For the last year of my life, all I was focused on was keeping Jasper under control. Now, I don’t have to worry about her, and…” you trail off and look back into the sun. It’s oh-so-slowly moving out of sight, slow enough to where you can’t see it move, but at the same time, you can tell that its position has changed in the past five seconds. You vaguely remember learning that staring for too long at bright lights can damage one’s sight, causing one to have to retreat to their gem. You can’t bring yourself to care enough to look away.

“...you aren’t sure what to do.” Steven suggested, to which you nod in response. The half-gem looks up at you, concern in his eyes. “Well, what did you do before you were Malachite?”

You draw in a deep breath at the sound of that name. You vaguely hear your own voice echoing through a dream nine months ago. We are Malachite now. You quickly take your mind off the subject and think of the answer to Steven’s question.

Wringing your hands, you suggest, “I guess I tried to get back to Homeworld. To find a way to have things be the way they were before the war. Now I realize how pointless that was.” Steven stares at the sand, deep in thought.

“What about before that?”

You purse your lips. “I tried to figure out how to get out of that damned mirror.” Steven looks at you, slightly shocked by your language, but quickly returns his gaze to a small crab crawling through the sand. 

“You could help take care of me,” Steven suggests nonchalantly. You glance down at the child, curious as to if he’s actually being serious. “I mean, I’m sure the gems wanted to get back to Homeworld, too, for a while, but eventually they started raising me, and that sure keeps them busy. It’s better than just sitting around, I guess.” He picks up a handful of sand, and watches it pour out through the cracks between his fingers. “At least, I hope it is.”

You can’t help but giggle. At the sound, the hybrid of a boy looks up at you, eyes hopeful. He is serious, isn’t he? “Steven, you know I care about you, but I can’t stay. This isn’t my home.” 

You instantly feel guilty after seeing the optimism in his eyes shatter. He gazes down at his fidgeting hands, and the two of you stay silent for several minutes, before he finally pipes up in a voice so quiet that you can barely hear, “Do you hate Earth?” You sigh. Should you be honest, and risk upsetting the boy further, or lie to bring his spirits back up? You decide to stay quiet. It turns out that Steven is smarter than you presumed, because he seems to be able to pick up all of the signs you give off. You run your fingers through your hair- an old habit you use to calm you down. Thinking about being trapped on Earth always ends up stressing you out, and leaving you near tears. “You know, the Gems hated Earth too, but now they-”

“I’m not a Crystal Gem, Steven, and I never will be!” You don’t mean to lash out at him, but Steven recoils anyway. “Steven, I-”

“No, it’s okay,” the pink-gemmed boy insists, quickly rebuilding his usual confidence. “I don’t expect you to love Earth right away, you know,” he comments. “Y’know, a very wise gem once told me that love takes time, and love takes work.” 

“Really? Who told you that?”

“Garnet. But, I mean, she technically didn’t tell me directly, but I was within earshot, so I guess I should say that a very wise gem once told someone else, loud enough that I could hear, that love takes time and hard work. But that’s not the point. The point is, Lapis, I can’t expect you to love my home already, you’ve probably spent about a month total here, excluding the whole Malachite thing, but maybe… Maybe after some time, and some work, you could learn to.”

You stare at him, a small smirk growing on your face. How is it that he’s always so considerate and optimistic? “You really think I could?”

His whole face lights up, and you swear his gem glows a little, too. “Yeah! And I’ll make a deal with you- if you spend one year with me and the Crystal Gems, and you still don’t love it, then you can leave and go wherever you please,” he uses his hands to gesture to the stars which are beginning to twinkle in the evening sky, “and I can’t do anything to stop you. But if you do love it…” he looks up at you, and as he sticks out his hand for a handshake, you swear you’ve never seen anyone seem more dead-set on something in your life, “if you love it, then you have to stay, and be a Crystal Gem with me.”

You stare down for him at a second, at a loss for words. This kid sure is something special, you think to yourself. You glance down at his outstretched hand, then up at the glistening stars. You don’t have anywhere else to go. Homeworld will never take you back, and what are the chances of you finding another planet suitable for life that’s accessible from here? You’ve got nothing to lose. 

You take a deep breath, before flashing a nervous smile and reaching down for Steven’s small hand. “You’ve got yourself a deal, Steven.”

His eyes widen, and he quickly jumps up, throwing his hands in the air with an enthusiastic “Whoop!”, which causes you to chuckle.

“Oh, man, Lapis, you’re gonna love it! You’ll get to live with us, and we’ll go on missions, and I’ll show you around Beach City, and-” Suddenly, Pearl’s unmistakable voice cuts through the air from the temple.

“Steven! Come inside, I’ve made you dinner!” Steven’s eyes widen, before he slaps himself on the face.

“Oh, man! I still have to go let the gems know you’re awake! And that you’re gonna join us!” All of a sudden, you feel very unsure. Do the gems even like you? “Don’t worry, they’ll love you!” Okay, then. “I’ll be right back!”

Steven turns around to run back to the temple, where light pours out of the windows and lights up the beach, before spinning back to face you again. He looks at you for a moment, still smiling brightly, before he sprints to you and envelops you in a tight embrace.

“I missed you, Bob,” he mutters into your soft, blue hair, and you’ve never cared for another living creature nearly a fraction of how much you do for Steven right now. He pulls out of the hug, gently ruffles your hair, and dashes back up to the temple, shouting, “Pearl! Amethyst, Garnet, you’ll never guess what just happened!”

The stars in his eyes are brighter than every star in the universe.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This will most likely be continued, but I have no idea how often I'll be able to update it. Stay tuned. Or don't. I'm writing this for my own enjoyment and entertainment during the boring summer days (aren't you proud, Mom?), so I don't really care either way. Constructive criticism and feedback is always welcome as well. Thanks for reading!


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